Central Criminal Court

At the kind invitation of the Sheriff, Alderman Gregory Jones KC, James W attended the City & Legal Lecture, Politics and Prisons: The Challenge of Reform in Court Number 1, Central Criminal Court ("The Old Bailey").

The chief speaker was Rory Stewart, formerly Prisons Minister, who spoke movingly about the frustrations of making meaningful improvements under an increasingly resistant political structure. His speech was followed by an intense discussion among a panel of experts.

Criminal justice is a field in which civilisations find some of their hardest tests, and, as the event highlighted, we all have a duty to open our eyes to the state of our politics and society, and apply ourselves to the task of improving what we see.

James was delighted to talk with other attendees, particularly those in the criminal law, and hear about their passion for the order and coherence of our society. It can feel hard to match personal contributions amongst such august and dynamic company, but everybody was uplifted to hear of James' enthusiasm about the architecture of the Central Criminal Court, based upon design geometry that was intended to contribute virtue through architecture that would positively influence everybody within the space.